1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for enabling seamless user navigation between a high-definition movie and a video game encoded together in a digital medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a given movie or other audio-video content property, a studio may publish and distribute several derivative or related products in various distribution packages. For example, for a given movie property, a studio may publish and distribute the movie on a DVD disc or a Blu-ray® disc, while distributing a thematically related video game, for example, a game console video game, e.g. PlayStation 3® game, or a video game configured for play on a personal computer. In some instances the studio may wish to distribute the video game inside the same distribution package as the DVD or Blu-ray® disc product, perhaps for cross-marketing purposes. For example, a Blu-ray® movie and game console video game may be distributed together on the same disc medium; however, the concepts discussed herein may also be applied to combinations of audio-video content and video games using other data standards or formats, and on various media.
Characteristically, the high-definition movie or other audio-video content is configured for playing using a media player application installed on a player/console device, and principally comprises audio-video data defining successive frames of a video production that cannot be transformed into useful audio-video output (e.g., a movie showing) without using a compatible application installed on a player device. The media player application may be pre-installed on the player device, or provided with the audio-video content. In comparison, the video game is characteristically an application bundle including both executable code and static audio-video data for processing by the executable code to produce successive frames of video output. The executable code is not pre-installed on the player/console device. The video game's executable code is configured for installation and execution through a compatible console's operating system, sometimes referred to as a user interface. Once installed and executing on the compatible console from the distribution package, the video game executable code accesses the static video game audio-video data to generate video game output that is responsive to input from a user interface device. Characteristically, the video game executable cannot be used to view or access the frame-based audio-video content, and the media player application cannot be used to access the video game's static audio-video output to provide video game output.
Combined distribution of a Blu-ray® movie and an executable video game has been accomplished by either including a second disc in the Blu-ray® package or by manufacturing a double-sided disc that contains a Blu-ray® movie content on one side and an executable video game content on the other side. However, both of these solutions are less than ideal, since it requires the consumer to swap discs or flip the disc over in order to switch between the Blu-ray® movie and video game, disrupting what might otherwise be a seamless user experience. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a system or method that overcomes this and other limitations of the prior art.